“Energy prices touch everything we do.” Listen to the interview Wyoming is the most energy intensive state. It’s the largest U.S. coal producer, producing about 40% of total coal mined per year in the U.S. It’s the country’s eighth most productive oil state, and it’s sixth in natural gas production. This week Oil & Gas 360® had an opportunity to talk
The meteoric production rise of the Marcellus and Utica Shales has shifted the playing field of the natural gas market and changed the United States energy landscape. While the recent commodity swing has finally forced U.S. oil production to least plateau (for the time being), the Appalachia has delivered consistent year-over-year growth ever since horizontal drilling truly took off in
Syracuse University study: fracing does not affect methane levels in drinking water In a new study that examined 11,309 drinking water wells, researchers at Syracuse University in New York discovered that background levels of methane in the water are unrelated to their proximity to wells using hydraulic fracturing. The finding suggests that fracing operations are not significantly contributing to the
The West Virginia Department of Commerce will allow hydraulic fracturing under the Ohio River, according to reports from local media outlets. The state had previously leased out about 474 acres of land in Marshall and Wetzel counties and retains a 20% royalty of the produced resources. Statoil (ticker: STO) has already finalized a deal with an average cost of about
Both the Maryland House and Senate pass bills restricting hydraulic fracturing Both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly passed separate bills Tuesday aimed at curbing hydraulic fracturing in the state. The measures are the most aggressive action the legislature has taken against fracing to date, reports The Baltimore Sun. The Maryland House of Delegates passed a three-year ban on fracing
New Bill would limit local control over oil and gas activities across Texas A Texas state Senate subcommittee voted unanimously to pass legislation being dubbed the “Denton fracing bill.” The proposal would limit local control over oil and gas activities across Texas, reports The Texas Tribune. The proposal is among nearly a dozen filed in the aftermath of the town
The U.S. Department of the Interior announces new guidelines for hydraulic fracturing on federal land Earlier today, the Department of Interior (DOI) released a final rule to update regulations governing hydraulic fracturing on public and American Indian lands after four years of consideration. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell commented, “Many of the regulations on the books at the Interior
Comment Period Ends Mar. 17, 2015 Remember the Northern Spotted Owl? It was a bird living in the Pacific northwest that was awarded the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s “Threatened Species” designation in 1990. Vast swaths of timber were classified off limits to harvest. That action drove lumber prices to new levels of volatility, costing homebuilders and buyers of new homes
The Colorado Oil and Gas Task Force to send nine recommendations to the governor’s office later this week Last September, Gov. Hickenlooper created the task force as part of a compromise to remove both pro- and anti-hydrocarbon development initiatives from the November ballot. The taskforce was created in order to give recommendations to the governor, but has no regulatory power
Will deliver policy recommendations to Gov. Hickenlooper this week The Colorado Oil and Gas Task Force is holding its final meeting today in order to discuss amendments to the recommendations it plans to send to Governor Hickenlooper later this week. The task force is meeting from 9 a.m. till 4 p.m. Feb. 24. No votes will be taken on the
Southern Tier threatens to leave NY for PA: Everybody over the border has new cars, new roofs, new siding Following a decision in December of last year to ban hydraulic fracturing in New York, several towns in New York’s Southern Tier are threatening to secede from the state in order to join Pennsylvania. The towns sit on top of a
The United States and Canada are the only two countries in the world to commercially produce both shale gas and tight oil, the Energy Information Administration said on February 13, 2015. Two other countries, China and Argentina, are the only other nations to extract resources from shale, but both are exclusively producing one of the two hydrocarbons. Russia and Australia
